


the south is safest

by peachyychim



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 3racha are lowkey the three musketeers but they hate eachother, Angst, Apocalypse, Blood, Character Death, Emo Minho, M/M, Violence, Zombie Apocalypse, changbin lowkey loves felix, emo changbin, hyunjin is the sweetest baby, idk who yet ill figure it out tho, jeongin is a baby, minsung bc im a hoe for it, minsung lives, nah not rly they love eachother, protect him, yeehaw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-15 06:27:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16057415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachyychim/pseuds/peachyychim
Summary: Months after the world broke down into anarchy, Jisung and his team set off on a journey south, to a safe zone which may or may not exist. They pick up people much like themselves, people heading south, along the way and the car turns into a van that just about carries them all. An unlikely bond grows and when Jisung thinks just maybe everything will be okay, it all goes horribly wrong.





	1. gas

Jisung didn't exactly have a reason to survive anymore. None of them really did. Its more of a human instinct he thinks, or something along the lines of that. To stay alive, that is - and to fight for it. He thought a lot. He had a lot of time for it.

For a while, it had just been the three of them. Himself, Chan and Changbin. He only met changbin when he began tagging along after helping out him and Chan a while back, when they really did need it. They were thankful. And he stayed, after that.

Chan always said, the more the better. Jisung thinks the opposite. He doesnt have anything against Changbin. He quite likes him, actually. Its just, more about the fact that if it carries on this way, more and more people will begin to tag along. He knows it would only be more people to care about and protect.

The more the worse, Jisung thinks. But its okay.

He knows it's good to have a team.

Chan, the eldest as far as Jisung knew, was someone he looked up to, someone he knew he could count on when he needed it. Like an older brother, almost. Without him, he was unsure of whether he'd still be here or not. He needed Chan.

Changbin was never special to Jisung, but he did like him. He was good with his weapins, good at fighting. Generally good at anything he did. He was quiet, though. Didn't speak a lot, and his mood seemed to change quite often from what Jisung had noticed. Although when he was talkative, he was a very sweet person. He's funny and intelligent and just a nice person to speak to in general. Though, when he was tired or in a bad mood he was known to snap easily and get mad. Usually due to stress, which was something they were all feeling so Jisung understood, but a lot of the time wished he would at least make an effort to be nicer to him. He was mostly nice to Chan, they had this kind of bond which make Jisung feel left out or forgotten. Being the youngest, they treated him that was almost unintentionally, and a lot of the time assumed he was clueless and he knows Changbin thinks he's useless and not so helpful, even though he'd never said it out loud.

At times, Jisung thought the same of Changbin. It was kind of a love-hate relationship but for the most part, he did his best to keep a positive mindset.

He'd never imagined it to be more than just the three of them - they worked well together. 

Not for a long while had he come across another person who didnt want to either take their car, food, or weapons. Not one sane person.

He understood why nevertheless, but he often wondered if himself and his partners were in fact the last sane survivors remaining. Sane may have been a stretch, but he was as nice to his hyungs as he could be.

He had yet to be proven wrong.

\--

"We need gas," A voice muttered from the front of the jeep, tired and weary sounding.

Jisung's stomach knotted.

_Gas._

Gas was always a pain in the ass to find. Yesterday, they'd used up the last of the gas from the trunk, hoping it would last them a day or two. 

What would they do without it? They had too much in the car to carry, and finding another decent car would be a lot of work. Most of them are out of gas or are missing parts, which probably were stolen and sold after everything happened. To find a working car these days was an effort and they'd be in luck if they came across one. 

But it was more about the gas.

Stupid, he thought. Stupid of him to think a quarter tank would take them across the city.

His eyes wandered the surroundings passing by; worn down houses, desolate superstores and skyscrapers.

As much as he sees them, on their journey across the country, he rarely finds himself to be inside them. Only when they're in need of supplies and in most cases, he's the lookout as his companions search the buildings. Of course theyre all the same inside and out, completely abandoned and deserted, most with hardly a trace of life for a long time now. 

Changbin awkwardly turned to glare at Jisung, expecting directions or some shit.

"Don't look at _me_ ," He muttered almost defensively, "I don't know where we are. Shouldn't you know? Look at the map."

The trio had left Seoul almost a week ago heading south. They passed by Changbin's hometown, only to find his family were no longer there, nothing but an empty house and a rotting smell inside it. Jisung didn't want to find out what the smell was. He had a fairly good idea.

Changbin was good at hiding his emotions, and didnt let it show. After that, they hadn't spoke of it again.

Jisung insisted they detour to his home town to see his family, but dropped it soon after when Chan insisted that it was too far out of the way. Which was true, but he felt it was unfair Changbin stopped by his but Jisung couldn't. Although it didn't take him long to quiet down about it when he considered they may have met the same fate as Changbin's family, like most people did.

One way or another, most families did. Oblivious and defenceless, the majority of them. Unprepared was probably a better word.

It was something he tried not to think about too much.

Lucky for Chan, his hometown was exactly where they were headed. Australia is said to be one of the only safe places left, followed by the UK and a few small European islands. The only uninfected places. The only problem was how limited oversea travel was. They'd be crossing over to Japan on rescue boats run by SWAT teams at the coast. Then to the south coast of Japan where they'd cross the Philippine Sea on a four-day boat journey. And that was only if they could make it onto the boat. Security precautions were high, and Police did everything they could to make sure the virus didn't reach the safe places. Safety was their priority.

At least this was what they had been told. Whether or not it was true, none of them knew. However with nowhere else to go and with means of safety or protection, they decided on taking a chance and heading south. Because as far as they'd been told (by strangers passing through the same gas station as them) the boats would only run for another two months before the teams headed to the safe zones themselves.

They hadn't heard of this until they were informed of it at the gas station about two weeks ago, although they knew, if they had a chance to be somewhere safe, this was their only option.

Jisung zoned back in from his daydream to find Chan and Changbin mindlessly arguing over directions which didn't really matter as long as they were heading south.

"If you go that way it'll take longer. Just pull over, let me drive." Changbin insisted.

"Look, I know which way to go, and it's this way. If you don't like it then you can hop out and walk there."

Eyes rolling, Jisung huffed in the back, "Shut up and just go, we're heading south and that's all that matters."

Being the youngest, he was always treated as if he didn't have a clue. Sometimes he thought he knew better than the two of them put together. Sometimes he did know better, especially times like this.

"Do you wanna drive? How about you get us down there?" A sarcastic remark from Changbin, something he was used to by now. They were all tired and snappy, but he often wished his friends wouldn't be this mean to him.

"Someone's cranky. Why don't you hand me the map and go to sleep?" He muttered lazily back, not really making any effort to argue.

"If you're so clever."

Just as his eyes began to flutter shut, he had a map to his face with a thud and a sharp pain to the nose. He probably knew the roads better than him, anyway.

He studied the map with tired eyes, immediately knowing which way to go. Chan was right in the first place, so he didn't bother saying anything.

It only took him a few geography classes to know the roads of Korea all too well. It was never something he thought he'd actually need since he hadn't considered travelling very much after he left school. His teacher was lazy, and throughout the school year he studied the same map of Korea, trying to memorise the cities and roads and how they all twisted and intertwined up and down the country.

Their logic had yet to amaze him, because Changbin had completely forgotten about gas when he wants to go to the other end of the country and had moved on to arguing about how to get there, which would probably stop soon when they run out of gas and have no way to get to the other end of the country and no directions to argue about. Life is so hard.

Changbin was nice to him yesterday. Briefly wondered why he can't always be like that. Wondered if he even cared about him in the slightest. He knew Chan cared about him, in a little brother way. Plus, it was just them before Changbin came. Why should he care about Changbin more than his little brother?

But he always thought as soon as they got to Australia, he'd leave both of them. He didn't need them. They didn't want him. Most of the time he felt like he was only a burden.

As Changbin quietened down, Chan spoke again, to Jisung this time and Changbin was unbothered.

"Jisung-ah,"

His head popped up, meeting Chan's eyes in the mirror.

"Do you know where we can get gas anytime soon?"

Finally, Chan was relying on him for something and even if it was so small, he knew he couldnt help him. He didn't know - he wish he did but when it comes to the time he actually needs to know something, he really doesn't know it. He studied the map once again.

"Well..," He mumbled, eyes on the map, "We're on a really long road, theres a city in a couple miles but maybe theres a service station along here somewhere. I don't know. Sorry,"

He could tell Chan was tired, he'd been driving for the past 24 hours of the journey, taking over from Changbin who had done the same. Bags lay under his eyes and his hair was a mess, he hadn't eaten in god knows how long and Jisung just wanted him to rest. He told Chan he should take over but Chan insisted he drive for a couple more hours. As per usual, he was caring too much about others and not enough about himself.

Jisung was often annoyed by this. Not that it's a bad thing to care about others, but theres probably a point where one cares too much.

"We're kinda low," he announced after a few seconds into the awkward silence, courtesy of Jisung who did have a tendency to make things awkward between them.

Changbin messed with the radio, tuning in and out of stations, most of which were inactive and had nothing to say. After giving up on the radio, he searched through the compartment in the door to find some CD discs, not really looking at which was which and inserting a random disc into the radio.

Old pop music started playing, Jisung didn't know of it so he just sat back and listened. He slid down in his seat and undid his safety belt, sinking into his three-sizes-too-big hoodie and his eyes fell heavy. He made no effort to stay awake, and found himself drifting to sleep quickly.


	2. stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it takes roughly 2hrs to drive from seoul to the south coast BUT YALL R GONNA HAVE TO JUS PRETEND IT DONT & GO ALONG WITH THE STORY otherwise this would be a very shOrt read, i never realised how small south k actually was c: ty

He woke up dazed and confused, hood over his heavy eyes and messy hair across his face. The car was no longer moving and there were muffled voices outside but no Chan or Changbin in the front like they were before he fell asleep. It had began to get dark and the sky was a navy blue colour decorated with dark grey clouds. He must have been out for a while. A slight shiver of panic made it's way through his body as all the possible scenarios ran through his head,  _what if someone took them,_ he thought or,  _what if they're hurt?_

His blurred gaze travelled to the window where he searched for his friends, who were nowhere in sight, despite the voices which he could clearly tell were theirs. He followed the voices, body moving forward to push the door open as he stepped out. The voices were clearer now - they led him round the back of the car to the other side of the road where his two friends crouched in front of something- but what was it?

He craned his neck to see over Chan's shoulder from a distance and there was a  _boy,_ to his own surprise. Looking lifeless and pale he sat, long black bangs almost covering his bagged fox-like eyes and cuts and scratches smothering his face like a blanket, dried out scarlet rivers that previously ran from them.

He looked young, but not very much younger than Jisung himself.

Jisung wondered what could possibly have happened to such an innocent looking boy.

A face so helpless an injured made him feel so guilty; like he would do anything in his power to help him. But aren't they all?  _Innocent,_ he thinks - when they just want supplies or food or whatever - didn't they all look innocent? From his past encounters with people in this state, it's what he'd learned to assume. So how would he know he could trust him?

There was nobody else around, or no sign of at least. No one was gonna jump out of the bushes and shoot them or something, hopefully. There was no places to hide nearby anyway.

The boy didn't look capable of anything as such, too injured. 

It took him a while for him to be noticed, idly standing behind the three of them, hood above his eyes and hands in pockets.

He wasn't sure how much time passed, Chan was still talking to the boy about who knows what, until Changbin eventually spun around and approached Jisung.

"Apparently his friends took his shit and left him, but he's not really saying much"

"He's hurt?" 

All he gained in reply was a nod from James as he shoved his hands in his pockets, turning to face Chan who was now helping the boy up by the arm, which was now around his shoulder with the younger boy holding onto him as he struggled beside him.

He walked with uneven steps and mouth clenched shut as if it hurt to do so.

"We got gas, by the way," Changbin mentioned from his left. Jisung's eyes widened and now he  _really_ felt useless.

"Did you travel the world while I was asleep, too? Where did you even get gas from?" His head spun to the side as if searching for a nearby gas station or the likes of.

"In the cars, like you said. Full tank."

_At least he was listened to._

A small huddle of lifeless, limping biters (as Chan calls them, or 'roamers' or sometimes just 'zombies') he'd only just now noticed, grew closer quite quickly, urging him to get a move on.

Chan was now helping the boy into the back seat of the car and Jisung took the chance to hop into the drivers seat.

"Jisung, I'll drive," he objected but was eventually argued down because 'you need sleep and i'm driving until you get it'.

Eventually he did give in - probably courtesy of the dead people who were now very close - and climbed into the back seat with a confused, tired stranger boy they'd found on the road. With a turn of the key, Jisung started the engine and hurried from the huddle with a rumble of the engine.

After they'd been back on the road for a while, Chan was asleep as far as Jisung saw in the mirror, Changbin had now began to conversate with the boy in the back, interrogating him almost but in the nicest way possible.

"So like," he started, awkwardly, "you got a name?"

The boy cleared his throat in the back and mumbled something Changbin didn't quite seem to catch; Jisung repeated it a little louder to the boy next to him in the passenger seat.

"He said Jeongin," 

Changbin's mouth made an 'O' shape in understanding.

"And you're what- like 15? 16?" he carried on.

"17."

"Oh. Well I'm Changbin. That's Jisung and that's Chan sleeping,"

It felt strange being introduced, no particular reason but it made his stomach twist at the sound of his name. Sometimes he wanted to change it. Sometimes he didn't wanna be Jisung but he always knew his hyungs would laugh if he told them. 

"I'm 19, he's 18 and Chan is 20."

Jisung watched  _Jeongin_ through the rear view mirror. He looked as if he was about to speak again, but his mouth closed before he did.

The car rolled along quite fast now, down a long and seemingly endless highway. Every so often he'd had to swerve in and out and around old, deserted cars that lay unused and rusty along the road.

He thought a lot about the owners and where they would be now. Most dead, probably.

It was lonely in South Korea, with not many survivors. The virus began in China, therefore quickly spreading to it's neighbour when victims fled. Jisung considered himself lucky. Although sometimes he knew there were more survivors than he thought. Lurking and sneaking around, ready to attack and ambush.

People were scared of each other. As for most people, it was an instinct, to become hostile towards any stranger along your path. It was only out of fear and self-protection, but it wasn't Jisung's instinct. He was someone that wanted to help others, protect them before he did himself. It was that way with most people he met, they always came before him. It was wrong and unsafe - he knows that. He knows he needs to look out for himself.

Himself and Jeongin were the only ones still awake at this point; sat without a word for the past hour, and Jisung was just about driving himself insane. He couldn't stand that god awful pop music, but the silence was worse.

Jeongin looked as if he'd relaxed a little now, not so high in his seat and his eyes weren't so widened and fearful. If he were Jeongin, he'd be scared too.

His stomach was going crazy now; he hadn't eaten in almost two days. The hunger had disappeared a few hours ago and he felt used to it, but it'd come back worse than before. He couldn't stop now, with Chan and Changbin asleep.

He couldn't focus. Couldn't feel and his hands were going numb. It was so cold, and the only shirt he owned is a rugged black tee, ripped and beaten from all that'd happened in the week. Cold air suffocated his body, he breathed it in and it roamed inside him - the air outside seeped through the holes and rips in his shirt, sending shivers all though him. No matter his efforts, the car remained freezing inside, but not as cold as the outside.

He did have a change of clothes in his bag, which was in the trunk but then again, he couldn't stop to change.

"Jeongin, do you drive?" Jisung wondered out loud, into the silence.

"My dad showed me how a while back. But I don't have a license," He said, more confidently than he sounded earlier, "but I can drive if you want me to! I owe you guys and I may as well be helpful, I guess,"

"I'm just wondering. You don't really have to, but thanks for offering," he considered Jeongin's injuries.

"Can I help you though? What can I do?" Jeongin sounded sincere. Jisung wondered. There wasn't much that needed to be done immediately, plus he was injured so it wasn't like he could fight.

"How are you with z's?" assuming he knew what was meant by 'z's.

"I- I don't know. I mostly just avoided them before,"

"Ever killed one?"

"No."

Jisung's concentrated stare tore itself from the road and he saw Jeongin in the mirror. "You've  _never_ killed one?"

God, how is this boy still alive?

He saw Jeongin shrugging in the mirror, wincing after he did so; a hand clutching his upper chest/collarbone. "They're like people. I can't kill them,"

"So they'll just kill you instead. You need to look after yourself, yeah? Kill them or they'll kill you," it came out harsher than Jisung had intended, but it was so important.

Jeongin was staying with them. He wouldn't have it any other way because he knew the second they let him go, he'd basically already be dead. Jisung needed to protect him. It was silent after that.

Jisung carried on, curious about this boy, "You got anyone?"

Their eyes met in the mirror and Jeongin's head shook as to say no, "I did, before they left me. I know some further south, though. I was going to meet them but we lost contact."

"Whereabouts?"

"South Gyeongsang? Near Daegu," Jeongin looked tense, a worried look over his face. He was obviously not so interested in speaking the topic.

He knew of a town nearby that place, didn't know the name but they'd be passing through in two weeks time.

"Lucky you, that's where we're headed."

Time passed seemingly slower and slower as if the earth had sped down by a million, and to Jisung it felt like the sun would never set, which was kind of how he wanted it.

Night used to be his favourite time of day. Until everything happened of course, and night was now his most dreaded. To drive in the darkness with few streetlights that still work, along with a busted headlight, it terrified him. Usually, Chan drove at night and Jisung slept to pass the time, only if he actually could, a lot of the time he was too frightened to shut his eyes.

By the time the sun disappeared into the orange-fading-black sky, stars shone like never before. Gradually, after it all happened, more and more lights went out. Power was no longer supplied to most buildings and the bulbs went out in the streetlights. It scared him, but something about the stars gave him a sense of calm. Like whenever he stared up at the sky, it was almost as if he could pretend the world was normal. He thought of all the endless solar systems in galaxies he could never count. Thought about how small he was in such a huge universe. Wondered why anything even matters, when their main source of light is a giant burning ball of gas and fire, and the moon is a big ass rock and the stars are merely nothing more than burning rocks of fire in the sky. Why was it all so beautiful when it was all so simple? The fact that his world was ending, was irrelevant to the rest of the universe. Somewhere out there, aliens are living their best lives, he thinks. He envied them.

They would laugh at his world.

He didn't want Jeongin to fall asleep. Please.

He'd be alone.

The poor boy needed to sleep but it was so eerie and nerve wracking when everyone was asleep and he was pretty much responsible for all of their safety. He just wanted the sun to rise again.

What would he do if he drove into a herd? Shit.

The sky grew dark and once it reached it's darkest, his stomach flooded with butterflies. If he was honest, he was pretty sick of this driving thing. They'd set off one day and they hadn't stopped, only for food and gas. He was sick of it. It was tedious. Especially in complete silence, or when the only music in the stolen car was old as fuck and kind of makes you wanna tear your ears off an burn them, not to be dramatic or anything.

There was no signal anymore. The last of it went last week, the network Jisung was on, actually. He kept his phone, though. Something about mindlessly tapping at the black screen for some reason is a little comforting. Anything that reminds him of what the world was like before.

-

It was around 4AM when everything really happened.

Jisung had just come off the highway onto a long, straight country style road with acres and acres of forgotten farm land around them.

The clock read 4.07AM when he first glanced over at it, and his eyes travelled over to the gas symbol, when he noticed it was low. Dangerously low.

The guys were all asleep, he didn't know if he should wake them and the car was beeping at him continuously, begging for gas.

No, he wasn't made for this. He had no fucking idea how to do this. God, they're all fucked and it's his fault.

He shook the shoulder of whoever it was in the passenger seat - he'd forgotten in all panic and he couldn't see a thing in the car because the lights were fading and the alarm was beeping and  _oh my god._

When the car was no longer able to move and his friend still wouldn't wake, he shook harder and his breath went funny. 

"Wake  _up,_ oh my god,"

"The fuck do you want?" a raspy voice, belonging to Changbin  _of course,_ snapped at him and he breathed a short sigh of relief.

"Gas," he breathed, "We have no gas,"

He saw Changbin glance over at the clock, which was now a fading  _4.10AM_ , and then at the gas, before it went out completely.

Jisung took the key out, and for whatever fucking reason he didn't want to think about, the alarm went off. Not the annoying little beeping sound which had now stopped, but the  _car alarm_ and he physically felt his stomach flip a million times.

"What the  _fuck,_ Jisung!" he nearly yelled and Jisung could barely hear him or the alarm and everything was blurred, his palms sweat and he fumbled with the key, "turn it off!"

Chan and Jeongin were now awake, the three of them gone into a full-blown panic around Jisung as he slid the key with a shaky hand back into the ignition - but the alarm was gone now because that was the _battery_ as well, and the lights were gone and it was pitch black.

It fell silent.

"We're all fucked," Changbin murmured.

"Don't say that!" Jeongin cried out, voice shaking and croaky in sleep.

"No, guys calm down," Chan interrupted, and it fell silent once again.

There was miles of land around them and they just attracted Z's from every single direction in it. There was nowhere they could go without running into any. Jisung tried to calm his mind, breathing slowly and steadily, thinking of a way out. No car and nowhere to go. All their bags and weapons in the trunk but there  _was_ a flashlight in the compartment  in front of Changbin. He hoped there was, at least.

Jeongin and Chan panicked in the back and Changbin sat in silence, dumbfounded and Jisung couldn't see a thing when he reached over Changbin for the handle of the compartment. It clicked open all of a sudden and he fished around in there for what he was looking for and, finally, he took it by the handle and felt it for the switch.

His hands shook and he'd never been more terrified in his life - he could already feel them all over him, grabbing and biting, snarling and growling and gritting their decaying teeth around him.

It was quite a large torch with a lot of power left in it, and it lit up the car. Once it did, Changbin's hand shot for the same compartment Jisung was just in, and he pulled out some kind of pistol.

"Be careful, jesus christ," Chan snapped when the end of the gun was pointed into the backseat. 

"There's two more guns in the trunk Jeongin, can you reach over and grab them? Safety should be on but be careful," Changbin ignored Chan's remark and spoke soft to Jeongin to ensure the atmosphere was calm.

For a split second Jisung was jealous of the way Changbin spoke to Jeongin, but of course that feeling was gone in an instant because there's no  _time_ to feel shit right now.

As Jeongin threw his safety belt back and kneeled on his seat into the trunk, Jisung finally spoke up after clearing his voice and wiping his sweaty hands.

"Obviously there's a shit ton of Z's headed our way and we need to go fast. Jeongin, just follow us and we'll be in charge of guns," he spoke slowly and steadied his shaking voice as much as he could, "I'll turn out the flashlight once we get out there and you guys need to follow me,"

When he was sure they understood, he had Jeongin hand himself and Chan the guns, one of them being quite a long one which he didn't know the name of - he gave that to Chan - and a smaller pistol which he held. They each grabbed a bag each, Chan holding an extra one and Jisung collected himself, slowed his breathing and hid his state of panic. Once Chan had counted to three, they were gone.

The cold hit him like a slap to the face and a shiver fell down his spine. A click of the switch and all light was gone, the world around the four of them plunged into darkness, apart from a distant streetlight ahead in what he thinks is a small village. The wind began to whistle around them and in the distance he knew he could hear them coming. Their steps quickened against the cracked cement and Jisung could hear Jeongin's breath increasing in fear.

It was so cold but sweat ran from his forehead and palms and he gripped onto the pistol like his life depended on it - and maybe it did - because if he dropped it now that would fucking  _suck._

The distant light neared closer; but so did the growling and snarling of the lifeless approaching, and it was coming from directly ahead.

His eyes had adjusted to the darkness a little more and he was right-- a group of them straight ahead of them were limping closer. Out of panic he grabbed Chan by the wrist and stopped him.

"Stop, guys," he hissed as quiet as his voice would go.

The footsteps stopped and he listened closely. They  _were_ coming closer and they wouldn't be able to go past without them noticing.

Heart almost beating from his chest, he kneeled to the ground, unzipping his bag and searching for the knife he'd put there a few days ago.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Chan whispered, kneeling beside him.

"Straight ahead.  _Shit,_ where the fuck is it," he searched more and at last when he finally found the handle he tucked the pistol into his belt and hid it beneath his shirt after checking to make sure safety was definitely on. He didn't wanna go shooting himself at a time like this.

"Straight ahead what?" Jeongin's voice still shook and wavered, and Jisung could tell he was more scared than any of them. 

He remembered Jeongin's injuries and immediately felt sympathetic for him but again, it went away because they're about to die and he cant feel right now.

"Z's" he replied with a shaky breath while he pulled a knife from his bag, "I don't think there's a lot and we can not use the guns otherwise we'll only attract more. Jeongin, there's also a knife in that bag and i trust you, okay? Get it in the head. Don't think, just do it. Quickly, get it out,"

Never killed a fucking zombie before, he wanted to scoff.

He already knew the other Changbin and Chan had their knives on them so he didn't ask.

The bag was thrown over his shoulder again as he stood back up, gripping Jeongin's arm and sending him to the back of the small group.

"Don't make any noise, just go straight for their heads and move on," Chan mumbled as they grew closer.

Jisung could almost hear his own heart going wild inside his chest. Of course he'd fought them before but never in the middle of the night when he was scared out of his mind. Why was he so scared? He'd done it before, there's nothing to be scared of.

They'd been walking towards the group of Z's for what felt like forever and Jisung's heart seemingly sped with every step and he just wanted to  _protect_.

And all of a sudden, he was face to face with one. One had was at it's chest and the other gripped the handle of the knife because his life  _did_ depend on it and he was about to fight for it.

Everything seemed like it slowed down, a quite oversized Z snarling at his face, held back by only Jisung's hand on it's ripped and faded flannel shirt, barely visible under the coat of old and new blood of poor, poor victims. His hand raised above his head and forcefully, as everything sped up, right back down into it's scarred forehead and it fell to his feet as he pulled it back out.

In his peripheral, Changbin was wrestling two at the same time, one on each arm, but Jisung's concentration was fixed on his next attacker, who flung itself towards him, arms flailing and grabbing. Amongst his own panic, the knife almost slipped from his grip when he grabbed at the rotting wrist to prevent it from coming near his face, only once he'd regained his grip, the blade was in and out of the Z's head like clockwork and it went on and on. 

There was a red river of scarlet making it's way down his arm and he didn't even have time to feel the pain that came with it, he just didn't stop moving. Another grabbed at his arm from the right, sending his bare elbow straight into it's face, - and he was lucky he missed the mouth - sending another to the ground and as he stepped over it, a heel rose and fell to it's bleeding skull, he heard it cracking and breaking as he did so and he tried not to cringe when it sent disease-ridden blood all over his body and arms.

Jeongin had managed to dig his knife into the neck of one which was good enough, although Chan, in the corner of his eye, had snatched the knife from it's neck and drove it into the back of it's skull to be sure.

And that was the last of them.

"Holy shit," Jeongin breathed

"Don't flatter yourself," Changbin joked, or scoffed or whatever it was, Jisung couldn't tell.

It was only a small amount, which by now he could see more clearly, he saw as they carried on and he felt so  _stupid_   for being so scared.

Gradually they made their way to the village with the lights and they searched each and every remaining house until they were sure it was safe. Chan even did a second search while the others made themselves comfortable in the top floor of a family cottage.

It was still cold and the air felt unclean, and once Jisung pulled up his mask, the others did the same. He felt no need to tend to the gaping knife wound on his arm however blood was still spilling from it and the pain was beginning to come back.

There wasn't much nearby to help himself with; the best he could do was to take off the shirt he was wearing and tie it over the wound to at least stop the bleeding. He changed after, into a dirty white shirt from his bag. 

It throbbed and burned underneath the cloth but he could only ignore it, and wait for it to go away. A dirty unwashed t-shirt to the wound was probably not so hygienic, he thought, but he had yet to come up with a better idea.

When he'd finally settled down in a corner, head on his bag, he saw the sky lightening again and time went by quicker than he'd ever knew. 

He felt so lonely, even surrounded by his friends and an acquaintance, it felt like there was no one really there for him; like he was on his own. And it kind of felt this way for a while now, and its like the more people he's with, the lonelier it feels. He hated the way it feels and tried to embrace what he had and be grateful for his team, but the feeling always came back.

Sometimes he wishes someone would come along who he really connected with and who was nice to him and really acted like they cared for him. But then other times he realises the majority of the good people are gone by now.


End file.
